Gone Are The Days of the Pendatang

According to history, the Indians and the Chinese visited and/or landed in Malaya long before Parameswara set foot on the soil of Malacca in the 1400. Parameswara was never a Malay. Hang Tuah, Hang Jebat, Hang Lekiu were thought as one stage to be Malays; but, unfortunately they were found to be of Chinese origin.

And, I am told that this part of history of Malaya had been absolutely expunged from the history text of recent production. I am sure if Sir Winstedt were still alive today, he would have been quite surprised and disappointed at how history could have been so blatantly and unabashedly distorted by the politically-oriented and nationalistic educationists in the country.

The British Administration which governed Malaya then had to import or allow the Indians and Chinese from southern India and China to work and or settle in Malaya. The Indians were purposefully brought into the country through the Kangani system as indentured labourers. They were never ignominiously designated as pariahs, if my memory can still recall. They were brought in to open up roads, work in the estates, the railways and the coal mines. The Chinese somehow were attracted to the towns where they started small businesses such as sundry shops, laundry centres, bicycle and repair shops, schools and tuition centres. While a great number entered the construction trade, others pioneered into the tin-mining activities while many pioneered into agricultural development.

The Malays were involved in padi-planting and farming. Many of them excelled in fishing and animal husbandry. One can find thousands of them residing near coastal towns and working as fishermen. Others went into batik production, handicrafts, arts etc.

In retrospect, we can say that all the three principal races, the Malays, Chinese and Indians, play a part in shaping Malaya. No one single party can claim absolute credit for suceessfully contributing towards the development of Malaya.

Our fore-fathers had also brought and contributed greatness to Malaya. Greatness was not thrust upon Malaya by the British who were then more keen on exploiting and sending back the natural resouces from Malaya to keep the factories and economy afloat in the United Kingdom.

The first and second generations of pendatang should be aged between 60 and 90. And, it is disheartening to learn that citizenship has not been granted them desipte the years they have been domiciled in Malaya and now Malaysia. Their applications have been processed at tortoise speed. Efficiency of the civil service!

The last 30 years saw the great influx of illegals into Sabah and Sarawak from Kalimantan to fill up the thousand of vacancies in the estates and plantations. Most of them had been granted citizenship by the BN Government as an attempt to rapidly increase the population of the 'Malays' to overshadow and overwhelm the natives of East Malaysia. At this, the BN social engineering policy and process succeeded far too well. But, a great price for the Kadazans, Dusuns, Dayaks etc have to pay.

So who are more pendatang than the other? Most if not majority of the BN/UMNO leaders could trace their respective countdries of origin to neighbouring countries such as Philippines, China, Cambodia, Thailand, Laos,Vietnam, Indonesia, India and Middle East countries. Most of them left their respective countries to seek their livelihood in Malaya - a land of milk and honey. Yes, we were lucky to converge into this minute tip of the S..E Asian peninsula called Malaya. All the pendatangs found in one way or other their fortune here, thank the good Lord.

Majority are happy at our newly-found land and fortune. But some are now trying to be like the leaders popularised by the book, Animal Farm. They are trying to be more equal than others although all are presumed equal at the beginning. Now they are seiged by greed so much that they want the whole farm to themselves by 'driving' the pendatangs originated from certain countries through deliberate formulation and implementation of highly discrimatory social economic policies.

As irresponsible leaders, they have one other thing to teach their comrades - that is religion. They can do whatever deemed illicit but have the bloody cheek to prohibit others from doing what they do. They are likened to the proverbial scribes, pharisees and hypocrites of the ancient time.

Don't these BN/UMNOputras realise that all human beings belong to the Almighty God. In fact we are all His children. Through His Son, Jesus Christ, He exhorted all of us to love one another as neighbours in as much as He loves all of us.

We are all judged by the devine law of love. Whether one is sincere, loathsome, unkind, vicious, wicked, evil and compassionate can all be measured against the four letter word, "LOVE". No matter what one does, the karmic law dictates one's futurity in the world-after which depends on what one does while in life on earth.

The Almighty God cares about internalities and not externalities or ostensities of human beings. Goodness begets goodness and evil begets eternal punishment.